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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Women of the Bible - Jochebed

The reason I chose Jochebed (Exodus 6:20) for today....well, actually there are two reasons....one is that I just like saying her name!!! The other is because while reading one morning, I came across a devotional about her and it got me interested in knowing a bit more about her life.

So....I HOPE that the rest of you will enjoy reading about her, too!!!

Jochebed was the mother of Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Can you imagine being the mother of Moses, who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and received the ten commandments from God on Mount Sinai. And, how about Aaron....who was chosen as the high priest and a spokesperson for his brother, Moses. Then, there's Miriam....a prophetess. WOW!!! Was there ever a Mom who had 3 more important and famous children?

Jochebed was the daughter of Levi, Jacob's son. She married Amram, her nephew. Because of Pharaoh's intense hatred toward the children of Israel, he ordered that all baby boys born to an Israelite woman be thrown into the river and drowned. In order to protect Moses from Pharaoh's command, she placed him in an ark of bulrushes and put him into the Nile River. Leave it up to God to use what Pharaoh meant to kill the babies....the river.....to save baby Moses!!!

And....it was Pharaoh's own daughter who discovered the baby. Miriam told her of a nurse who could care for the baby....and of course, that was Jochebed!

If you read Hebrews 11, you'll find that Jochebed is listed among the "heroes of faith"!!!

Conclusion:

Jochebed was a woman who had a faith much stronger than her fears. She knew that her God would somehow take care of her baby boy. Often we think of these Biblical stories as just that....a story. But, these were real people, just like us today....leading real lives and with real troubles and trials!!! God is no different today than He was then. We just have to keep faith believing that He is still God....still in control....still with our very best interest at heart!!!

2 comments:

The message I find in Moses' and his mother's story is .... that which is most dear to you if you will release for the very purpose of God...he will bring that back around...She gave her son to the river swaddled in a tiny little "ark" and God brought them back together in the palace of Pharoah ....GOD is such a good GOD...She was a wise woman to let go of that, "which we know as mothers" she wanted to pull in tighter to her bosom...to keep her son safe.